Jesse Ventura: Probably WrestleMania III. It was the largest indoor crowd in the history of anything. It came off without a hitch. And I got to see the greatest wrestling match that I ever viewed in my life and was fortunate enough to broadcast it that night. It was in-front of 93,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome and the match that I’m speaking of, which to me was the greatest match I have ever watched or participated in any manner or saw, was Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Randy “Macho Man” Savage. The best match I’ve ever seen in my life.
Eric: Speaking of Randy Savage, do you know what the deal is between him and Vince McMahon?
Jesse Ventura: No I don’t. When you talk to me about questions of wrestling, you know way more. I left there 1990 and I don’t really pay attention to it at all. I don’t watch it. I don’t even know who is in wrestling anymore. Pretty interesting. When I leave something I leave it. Wrestling has nothing to do with me anymore other than being a part of my past. Other than refereeing a match in 1999 and being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004 I have had virtually no contact with the world of pro wrestling. My son knows way more than I do now.
Eric: Will he ever think about getting into the ring?
Jesse Ventura: No. That is not in his make up. He never has had any aspirations like that. I guess it’s not in his genes like it is in all these other people. You will not see the son of Jesse Ventura wrestle. That’s what I did. My son is his own person. He’s half me but he’s not me if that sounds logical. He does his own thing. He likes wrestling, likes the entertainment value of it, enjoys watching it, but he has no aspirations to get in the ring and never has.
Eric: Is there anything else you would like my readers to know?
Jesse Ventura: Wrestling, as much as it has advanced, is still in the dark ages. The manner of calling themselves self-employed which is a lie. The fact that they don’t have a union and benefits. Working conditions that a union can bring. Health care benefits, retirement benefits. It’s sad the stranglehold is so powerful on the talent. It’s not that it is a bad business, it’s a terrific business but it could be even better for the participants in it. Until they get the courage to not fight with each other in their jockeying positions of success, if I can put it that way. Until they start thinking as one and benefiting all. The way the business works is where you are all an individual and you seek the benefits for yourself. Until that is overcome wrestling will always remain in the dark ages as far as employment goes. Don’t get me wrong, the people that are there choose to be there. It is their right to choose it and I don’t begrudge them, I did it. But the fact that there is no camaraderie against the promoters to form a union is really sad.
Highlights of our 15-minute political conversation
After the 20-minute interview ended, I asked Jesse an off-the-record question about 9/11. We got into a great political conversation that went on for almost 15 minutes. He was OK that we go on the record with the entire conversation because he had nothing to hide. I’m going to just give highlights from that conversation because I told him some personal information about that tragic day that I’m not prepared to share with everyone.
Jesse feels that questioning your government is patriotic and that dissension is the greatest form of patriotism. He wants to know why his credibility is challenged by asking questions about 9/11. There are still questions that are unanswered about it. Why don’t we have the right to ask questions without having our credibility insulted? To Jesse, that is a sign that here is more to it and that there is guilt involved in it because they are attacking the messenger and not the message.
What got Jesse asking questions about 9/11 was when Bush said we were going to invade Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
A sad truth he uncovered in his research is that you can’t find the answers because of the way the crime scene was handled. He feels the government put more priority on the removal of the evidence than on the investigation of it. There is now no way to prove anyone right or wrong. Why was that done?
Jesse asked an intriguing question. Imagine if the Sharon Tate murder scene was cleaned up before the investigators got there? If that happened then Charles Manson would be walking the streets today. Yet that is what happened at the World Trade Center. More priority was given to removal rather than investigating the murder site.
